Curated OER
Reading Between the Lines: Making Inferences About Idioms
Students discover idioms. In this inferencing lesson, students identify idioms from passages and infer meanings of unknown idioms using prior knowledge and experience. Students write sentences using newly learned idioms.
Curated OER
Propaganda
How does word choice affect the reading of a text? Compare two headlines that were written about the same event. Is one biased? Discuss how word choice often reveals the author's feelings about a topic. Then look at different techniques...
Federal Reserve Bank
Arts and Economics Infographic Questionnaire
How do careers in the arts contribute to America's gross domestic product? Use an informative infographic that details the economic details of careers in the core arts, including design services, performing arts, and arts education, to...
Curated OER
Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
Curated OER
Ban That Book!
Take advantage of Banned Book Week to pique students' interest and get them reading! Create a classroom display of previously banned books and allow each member of your class to choose one to read. After they have read their book, get...
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this activity about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their...
Curated OER
A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson plan. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in...
All for KIDZ
Building Relationships: The Orphan of Ellis Island
Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource...
Curated OER
What Can We Learn about India from a Ten Rupee Bank Note?
The class finds and cites evidence showing India's unity in diversity and work to recognize some of the complex interactions of a civilized community. They read to understand how geography, history, politics, economics,...
Curated OER
Get a Leg Up
Traveling through space is an amazing experience, but it definitely takes a toll on the body. After reading an article and watching a brief video, learners perform an experiment that simulates the effects of zero gravity on the...
Curated OER
There's a World of Science to Read Today!
Pupils read a current science article. They write a summary of the article, take notes, write and edit a summary, and print their work.
Curated OER
Hands Poem
Students create a "Hands" poem for the author/character in a reading selection.They make inferences for reading selection and back up inference by citing specific lines in text. They relate author's or main character's experiences to...
Curated OER
Motel of Mysteries
Students determine that even though inferences are based on observations that does not mean they are always true or correct. They pull the topics and main ideas out of a piece of difficult text.
Curated OER
Tomas and the Library Lady
Learners practice read aloud comprehension strategies. In this literacy comprehension lesson, students listen to Tomas and the Library Lady, stopping to discuss with a partner aspects of the story suggested by the teacher. Learners make...
Curated OER
The Diary of Anne Frank
Eighth graders read the Diary of Anne Frank. In this novel reading lesson, 8th graders read and analyze the story. Students do online activities and create a newspaper giving a summary of three major events in the story. Students answer...
Curated OER
Trouble With Trolls
Learners listen to The Trouble With Trolls and discuss fables. In this story elements lesson, students work on reading skills. Learners participate in different reading activities.
Curated OER
Lead Critical Reading
Young scholars read opposing views on the lead contamination issue, identify the facts and opinions in each article, and infer the opinion of the author. They create an essay expressing their opinion on the issue complete with citations.
Scholastic
Lesson 2: Values and Barriers
Scholars investigate and discuss the importance of values and how they can be used to break barriers. Small groups work collaboratively to examine the text and draw inferences to answer questions. A writing assignment challenges pupils...
Curated OER
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Graphic Organizer
After completing the first five chapters of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle By Avi, use direct quotes to make inferences about how Charlotte feels about certain characters. Later, when the novel has concluded, revisit...
EngageNY
Gathering Evidence and Drafting a Two-Voice Poem (Chapter 13: "Los Duraznos/Peaches")
Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...
NASA
The Evidence is “Clear”!
Do you think you know better? Become a scientist and prove it. Scholars review the evidence for two different theories of the origins of the universe. They notice the empirical observations as well as the inferences to determine which is...
Museum of Tolerance
Developing Media Literacy
To protect young people from questionable content, many schools limit access. This resource suggests that because learners can so readily avail themselves to unrestricted Internet access, it is vital for 21st century...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy
Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...
EngageNY
Writing, Critique, and Revising: Two-Voice Poems (Chapter 14: "Las Ucas/Grapes")
Continue work on the two-piece poem that compares two characters from Esperanza Rising. Give class members a few minutes to finish their drafts. After they have a complete product, model how to critique and edit the poems with one group....